Baroness - Gold & Grey (Abraxan Hymns, 2019)

Baroness
Gold & Grey
Abraxan Hymns
2019

Rating: 9 round wheels of cheese out of 10

In no way do I mean this as snarky, but most folks even consider Baroness a metal band anymore?  Your estimation on what the band "is" might considerably color your feelings on the music they're currently releasing.  They’re certainly still heavy live, but as a recorded release ”Gold & Grey” has more...uh, let's call it "dark folk" tracks than rockers, and the rockers that are there should be classified as proggy hard rock at best.  Mind you, despite any quibbles over classification, this record fucking rules - the scope of the thing is epic.  Front man (and only original member) John Baizley has damn near found the exact formula for blending heavy songs with pop sensibilities; more importantly, perhaps his greatest gift is finding quality individuals to replace departed band members.  Sebastian Thomson has been with the group for a few years now, but I’m still going to mention him every time because it still blows my mind Baroness shares a drummer with Trans Am.  And the most recent acquisition, Gina Gleason, should be an even bigger head scratcher as the bulk of her experience is from performing with Cirque du Soleil...that is until you see her live, where she proves herself to be one of the most impressive people I’ve ever seen play guitar in my entire life.  Her skill and backing vocals add an extra layer the band has never had before.  Baroness really show off their technical chops on tracks such as “Throw Me An Anchor” and “Seasons,” a couple of personal favorites.  On first listen the plethora of "slow" songs might seem out of place on a record from this band, but it’s likely this duality that really makes the more upbeat numbers stand out so much.  Baroness are truly post metal – not in terms of the "post metal" genre within the larger metal world, but rather that they have transcended the metal genre entirely and are now in their own world.  No one else sounds like this – and if they tried, my guess is they would fail spectacularly.